


Date me for real

by gkeis



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Fake Dating, Fake/Pretend Relationship, fake dating au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 23:17:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9146392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gkeis/pseuds/gkeis
Summary: Laura casually schedules Carmilla to be her girlfriend on the 6th. Likewise, Carmilla sets up a schedule on the 14th. Conversations with Laf, the harbinger of truth, follows. And Carmilla and Laura take it from there.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, no beta. And I just drafted this on my phone (and trying to post it with my phone as well). Anyways, I hope someone enjoys this :) Happy new year! :)

"You'll be my girlfriend on the 6th?", Laura said so casually as she checked her calendar on her mobile. She gently nudged Carmilla, who was seated right next to her on the sofa, with her shoulder.

Without even looking up from the crossword puzzle she was working on, Carmilla replied, "Yup, got that."

LaFontaine bolted upright from their slouching position on the opposite couch and tried to assess whether they had actually just heard what they thought they just heard. Laf wasn't even through processing when Carmilla added "Girlfriend on the 14th? Mother has one of her parties. Again!"

"Sure thing. Ooh, I hope they serve those custardy hors d'oeuvres!", Laura squealed excitedly.

"Cupcake, that sweet tooth of yours is too much! Mattie still hasn't gotten over how much sugar you ingested on our last double date!"

"Guys, I know I've been gone for some time," Laf thought it best to just go ahead and ask, "Are you two girlfriends now?"

In unison, Carmilla and Laura both looked up from whatever it was preoccupying them, looked at each other, and gestured with their eyebrows as if to tell the other "You go and explain!"

Carmilla rolled her eyes with a sigh. She is putty when it comes to Laura, but of course she'll never admit that (out loud at least).

"Kind of," Carmilla directed the answer to Laf all the while looking at Laura from the corner of her eyes to check whether she answered correctly.

"Um, kind of?," Laura interjected. 'What does she mean by kind of?! I mean, technically, we're not. We've just been thrown into a lot of circumstances where we had to pretend to be girlfriends. So shouldn't the answer have been an outright no. But then she said kind of and that's not a no. So is that a yes-'

"Cupcake, breathe. I can almost hear you think." She placed her hand over Laura's in the hopes of calming her down.

Looking right back at Laf, Carmilla continued. "Yes," Carmilla paused noting the muffled gasp she heard from the girl beside her. "And no. We're fake dating."

"Uh, ok," Laf said mentally prodding Carmilla to elaborate.

"It's just that there's been some situations that had been easier to get out of or to deal with by us pretending to be dating. Sometimes I help her out, sometimes she helps me out. It's win-win. Totally practical." Carmilla added that last part hoping no one picked up on the hesitation in her voice. She knows she's at least half trying to convince herself more than Laf of how rational this setup was.

"Ok," Laf said. "But I'm still on the fence whether this is brilliant. Or just stupid." They paused for hardly a second when an idea crossed Laf's head. "Hey, Laura, hypothetically, if I need a fake girlfriend this coming weekend, would you do it?"

Carmilla totally hadn't expected Laf to ask that question and for a split second her brows furrowed in what she refused to acknowledge as slight jealousy. But she caught herself right away and put her poker face back on. She hoped Laura didn't notice that.

"Sorry, Laf, I'm exclusively fake dating Carm," Laura replied apologetically and she could swear she saw the corners of Carmilla's lips turn up for a very subtle smile. Besides, she doubts she could be believable as Laf's girlfriend. 'With Carm, it's not so hard to pretend when you're actually attracted-' She stopped herself in mid-thought. 'No, I mustn't go there.'

"Why don't you just ask Carm?," Laura suggested.

Carmilla and Laf looked at each other and burst out laughing. "Sorry, no offense but McBroody and I just exude undeniable bromance."

"No offense taken," Carmilla said as she wiped away tears from having laughed too hard. "And brotp-factor aside, I think I too would like to be exclusive with Cupcake here. Uh, in fake dating her, I mean, of course." She blundered through that one.

Laura felt it took too much facial muscle to resist smiling. Besides she could feel the blush forming on her face giving her away. Then her alarm went off.

"Yoga?," Carmilla took a guess.

"Yup," Laura confirmed and turned to Laf as she picked up her mat and knapsack which had been lying on the floor beside the sofa. "It's just for an hour at the studio downstairs. I might catch you, guys, later for dinner."

"Dinner later," she said to Carmilla as she leaned over. Her lips already landed on Carmilla's cheek when she realized what she had done, and right in front of Laf who had the widest grin on their face. "Eep! Habit! (Groan) Going now! Later!" Laura rambled incoherently as she headed towards the door.

"See you, Cupcake!," Carmilla said as Laura made her exit.

***

"So... dating Laura Hollis?" Laf inquired still with that shit-eating grin on their face.

"Fake dating," Carmilla couldn't believe the slight sting when she made the correction. 'I should've gotten used to that distinction by now. Fake. Fake. Fake. (Sigh) It doesn't get any better.'

"How did that even happen? Wasn't she going out with Danny?"

"That's how it got started in the first place! Turns out, Xena is too overbearing. Overprotective much, and they were only just starting to get to know each other then! Laura tried to break things off with her although technically there was nothing to break off to begin with. But the beanstalk was unbelievably clingy. But eventually, it took a fake girlfriend and a broken nose to finally get her off Laura's back!"

"Go, Karnstein! I had no idea you had it in you!" Laf applauded.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you but the broken nose was mine," Carmilla chuckled as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"But still," Laf still cheered her on.

"Well, she was worth it," Carmilla blushed at the admission. "So anyways, after that she returned the favor by pretending to be my girlfriend at mother's events. That spared me from the usual barrage of blind dates that mother shoves my way. Unexpectedly, mother took a liking to Laura. Well, Laura's just adorable, it's just my mother who I never would've thought would like anyone I'm dating. So now, Laura *has* to join us on major family gatherings on mother's insistence. And you'd never guess they'd be BFFs when it comes to Scrabble!"

"At least you won't have any objections from your mother when it comes to Laura."

"Yeah, sure, that's the least of my worries. Oh, wait, Laura doesn't even like like me," Carmilla said sarcastically.

Laf threw her a look as if to say 'Are you kidding me?!' They have seen these two around each other. 'Clueless,' they thought and mentally rolled their eyes in disbelief.

"Maybe you can try asking her? Wouldn't hurt to try, you know," Laf suggested.

"Riiight," Carmilla bit her lip. 'It's not as if I have many options -- outright rejection versus perennial friend zone,' she thought to herself.

"She *could* like you, you know. Just saying," Laf added with a shrug.

***

"You'd never guess who I ran into on the way back," Laura opened as she made her way into the living room.

"Hey there," Carmilla welcomed Laura as she patted the seat beside her.

"Scooch over, Carm," she gestured to her usual place on the sofa beside Carmilla.

'That's a three-seater and these two are crowding on that space. Clueless,' Laf virtually threw her hands up in the air.

"Cupcake, you were saying?"

"I ran into Danny!"

"Oh," Carmilla wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Don't worry, it was fine. Apparently, she and Kirsch hit it of, and they're dating!"

"Wow, that was unexpected!"

"I know, right! That's one less person that we have to pretend to be dating to," Laura added with a slight hesitation. 'That should be a good thing, right?'

"Riiight. Well, Cupcake, you have a knack of attracting stalking douchebags, so perhaps my role as your fake girlfriend is pretty much secured. Sorry, Cutie, can't get rid of me just yet," Carmilla countered and smiled at Laura. In response, Laura gently leaned onto the girl seated beside her. She was glad her broody crush isn't all too eager to stop fake dating her. Carmilla relished the contact and wrapped her arm over Laura's shoulder.

'Maybe she likes me for real,' each one (well, except Laf of course) thought in unison. 'Ah, one could wish!' And both Laura and Carmilla sighed with mixed feelings of acceptance, resignation and wishful thinking.

"At some point, you guys will eventually have to stop it with this fake dating thing," Laf the harbinger of truth casually brought up.

Carmilla and Laura both looked at Laf as if Laf had just kicked a puppy.

"Hey, just saying! Well, would you look at that," Laf looked at their forearm as if to check a nonexistent watch. "Gotta go, guys, I just remembered I'll be meeting Perry for dinner!"

"Oh, ok, let's have dinner some time soon. With the four of us," Laura chimed in.

"Definitely. A double-date!," Laf replied as they got all set to go.

Carmilla and Laura walked Laf to the door. Just as Laf was about to head out and go, they faced the pair and said, "Hey, about what I said..."

Ah, the sound of a thousand crickets chirping.

"I'm just saying maybe you can try dating for real," and with that Laf headed off. All that was lacking was a loud poof and that would've passed as a ninja's exit.

***

The very short walk from the door back to the living room had been awkward as each girl tried to process a million thoughts all at once. Ranging from 'I will kill Laf', 'I am so dead', 'That didn't just happen, right', 'OMFG, it did'.

When they reached the sofa, Carmilla grabbed Laura's hand as they sat down in silence. Her own thoughts were racing, and knowing Laura she was concerned that Laura's head was probably in overdrive.

"Breathe, Cupcake," she broke the silence, facing Laura and putting her hands over Laura's arms and gently rubbing them in an attempt to calm her.

'There's no going around this after Laf dropped that bomb,' Carmilla's shoulders dropped in defeat.

"Look, about what Laf said," Carmilla started not quite knowing where to go from there. "I might have kind of given them the idea that I harbor some actual feelings for you."

Laura couldn't believe what she just heard. Her brows furrowed in confusion.

"That bunched up face you're making is adorable!," Carmilla blurted out somewhat surprising herself with the admission. "Sorry, I got distracted... You always distract me," she added coyly.

For someone who can talk a hundred words a second, Laura was just speechless. 'Where is she going with that? Is she going to tell me she has feelings for me? Or that Laf misunderstood and she doesn't have feelings for me? Does she know I have feelings for her? How could she know? Had Laf noticed too? Oh Dumbledore, does she hate me now? I'm about to lose my fake girlfriend, I can't lose my best friend too. She's not saying anything. Holy Hufflepuff, what do I tell her?!' The thoughts kept pouring in too fast and none of them make their way out of her mouth.

"Date me!," Laura finally squealed out. She was shocked at the words that jumped out of her mouth.

"Sorry, what-" Carmilla wasn't quite sure she heard that right. And judging from the expression on Laura's face, Laura's just as surprised as her with that declaration.

Carmilla decided to just go for it. "Cupcake, I like you. Nod if you like me too!"

Laura nodded.

Carmilla leaned in and gently pulled Laura closer in a near embrace--their faces quite close to each other with their foreheads touching. "Date me," Laura managed the courage to say that again. "Be my girlfriend for real?," she added.

Carmilla answered with a kiss that was met with equal passion by Laura's mouth.

"Looks like I won't be killing Laf the next time I see them," Carmilla said in between kisses as both girls savored the thought of no longer fake dating.


End file.
